Feb 28, 2017

Retailers: remember the "T" in BAT stands for "Tax"

The proposed border-adjusted tax, which House Republicans are hoping to institute as a way to both increase revenue for tax reform and to support domestic manufacturing, is hated by the retail industry because it raises taxes on imports. And the problem with taking on retailers is that they're pretty good at marketing.

This commercial, launched by the National Retail Federation, underscores the difficulty proponents of supporting domestic production have always had: Consumers everywhere like low prices, while the benefits of supporting domestic manufacturing are concentrated in one industry.

The president is watching: The commercial debuted during Fox and Friends this morning, which featured an interview with President Trump. You can bet that the West Wing saw the commercial, and the political headaches it foreshadows.

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Marisa Fernandez
11 mins ago - Health

Los Angeles and San Diego public schools will be online only this fall

Alhambra Unified School District. Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Public schools in Los Angeles and San Diego, the two largest public school districts in California, will not be sending children back to campuses in the fall and will instead administer online classes only due to concerns over the ongoing threat of the coronavirus.

Why it matters: The two districts, which together enroll about 825,000 students, are the largest in the country thus far to announce that they will not return to in-person learning in the fall, even as the Trump administration aggressively pushes for schools to do so.

This story is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

Axios
Updated 21 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 12,984,811 — Total deaths: 570,375 — Total recoveries — 7,154,492 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 3,327,388— Total deaths: 135,379 — Total recoveries: 1,006,326 — Total tested: 40,282,176 — Map.
  3. World: WHO head: There will be no return to the "old normal" for the foreseeable future — Hong Kong Disneyland closing due to surge.
  4. States: Cuomo says New York will use formula to determine if reopening schools is safe.
  5. Politics: Mick Mulvaney: "We still have a testing problem in this country."
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Marisa Fernandez
47 mins ago - Health

Cuomo: New York will use formula to determine if it's safe to reopen schools

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that schools will only reopen if they meet scientific criteria that show the coronavirus is under control in their region, including a daily infection rate of below 5% over a 14-day average. "We're not going to use our children as guinea pigs," he added.

The big picture: Cuomo's insistence that New York will rely on data to decide whether to reopen schools comes as President Trump and his administration continue an aggressive push to get kids back in the classroom as part of their efforts to juice the economy.

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